Good evening, Hawaii. Here are the main stories we've been following today: 

Your Weather Planner  

We’ll see a return to a more typical trade wind pattern today, bringing showers to the windward and mauka areas this morning. A cold front will approach from the west but stall and then dissipate later today over the islands. This will bring a return to breezy trade winds with periods of clouds and showers favoring the windward and mauka areas late week into the weekend.

A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect until 6 p.m. Thursday for Kauai Northwest Waters, Kauai Windward Waters, Kauai Leeward Waters, Kauai Channel, Kaiwi Channel, Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel, Alenuihaha Channel, Hawaii Island Leeward Waters and Hawaii Island Southeast Waters. Northeast winds 20 to 30 kt with seas building to 6 to 10 feet.

Get your 7-day forecast

Introducing Spectrum News+
Watch the latest news from across the country.

Today's Big Stories

1. Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, completing historic comeback

Former President Donald Trump has clinched enough electoral votes to win the White House, The Associated Press declared on Wednesday, making him the first U.S. president to win a non-consecutive term since Grover Cleveland in 1892, the oldest person ever elected president and the first person convicted of a felony to win the office.

Battleground Wisconsin, one of the three "blue wall" states that previously reliably voted for Democrats, put Trump over the top early Wednesday morning with its 10 electoral votes.

Running on a campaign largely fueled by criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration and economic policies — as well as personal grievances and vows of revenge against his political foes in the wake of his multiple criminal indictments — the 45th president, and soon-to-be 47th, overcame a challenge from Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee this summer.

After Pennsylvania, the largest battleground state in the country, put him on the cusp of clinching the 270 electoral votes needed to win back the White House, Trump declared victory.

“There’s never been anything like this in this country, and maybe beyond,” Trump, addressing a jovial crowd of supporters at his election night party in Florida, said of his political movement. “And now it’s going to reach a new level of importance, because we’re going to help our country heal."

“We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly,” he added. “We’re going to fix our borders. We’re going to fix everything about our country. We made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that.”

2. A festive mood at the Republican watch party on Election Night

Following an opening pule and rousing “Pledge of Allegiance” resounding throughout the Republican watch party central held at The Artistry on Election Night, MAGA supporters came from around the island to express their hope and show their enthusiasm for president-elect Trump.

A number of attendees expressed the need for change in Hawaii politics, as well as frustration with the high cost of living, fuel prices, money being sent out of the country instead of being used to help American citizens at home, and other reasons.

Hawaii Republican State Chair Tamara McKay shared a few words with the crowd at the start of the watch party and took a few minutes toward the high point of the evening to share some thoughts with Spectrum News.

“I think we’re going to see a lot of change. People have asked what the differences between Trump and Harris are. Well, we already know,” stated McKay.

“Look at the past four years what we’ve experienced under the Biden/Harris regime. We’ve already gotten a taste of what it’s like and we already know what it was like under Trump — we had lower gas prices, we had jobs, we had a better economy, safer borders, self-sustainable. I mean, there were so many other things," McKay added.

She spoke on the mass exodus of Native Hawaiian people, families leaving Hawaii because they were “priced out of paradise” with the high cost of living and inability to find an affordable home.

When asked about the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, McKay responded, “I think we need to be open to everything. I need to really look further into the Heritage Foundation; I know they do a good job, they’re a great conservative group, they’re pretty credible. But to be honest with you, I would like to get back to you and look further into that, we’ve all been preoccupied with other things — economy, cost of living, the safety of our children."

3. Hawaii Democratic leaders call for courage

Faced with the unfolding reality of a Republican takeover of the White House and U.S. Senate, local Democratic leaders urged focus, commitment and continued work at all government levels Tuesday evening at an election watch event sponsored by the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

With early evidence of Kamala Harris’ underperformance in key states flashing on the screen behind him, state Senate President Ron Kouchi turned his attention to the important role Hawaii’s Congressional delegation will play regardless of who assumes the presidency.

“What can Hawaii do to make a difference in D.C.?” Kouchi said. “It’s to send Jill Tokuda back to Congress. It’s to send Ed Case back to Congress. It’s to send Sen. Hirono — who probably gets under former President Trump’s skin more than any other U.S. senator — back to Congress.”

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said state and local governments will be more important than ever in preserving rights and freedoms threatened by a second Trump administration.

Hirono’s comments came as news was breaking that the Democrats had lost control of the U.S. Senate.

“The local races we’re watching are going to be so critical because many of the rights that we need to protect will have to be (protected) at the local level,” she said. “A lot of the issues we care about will have to be accomplished through the legislative arena. Whether it’s voting protections or women’s rights to control their bodies, a lot of that is going to be done at the local level so these local results are going to be very, very important.”

U.S. Rep. Ed Case had spent the late afternoon sign waving in Kapolei and said he was struck by the number of in-person voters who turned out at the voter service center at Kapolei Hale.

“I talked to people as they came by and one person said something to me that just stuck with me. He said, ‘people don’t come down and wait five hours in the rain if they think things are going to be O.K.’ That’s something we have to listen to.”

“If we win tomorrow, we have to sit down and ask ourselves ‘why did we win’ and ‘why was it such a close one?’” he said. “If we lose, obviously we have to sit down and ask ourselves honestly, ‘what were they saying to us?’ and ‘how can we lead this country forward?’”

As the watch party loped to a premature end following the announcement that the first local results would not be available until late in the evening, Gov. Josh Green took to the podium to speak in stark terms about which party, win or lose, he felt was best for Hawaii and the country at large.

“At the end of the day, there is a right and there is a wrong and we have to remember that if the country makes a mistake — and it would be a mistake to put a person like Donald Trump back in the White House — we have to remember that there is an absolute right to fight for people, to care for people,” he said.

4. Alameda leads Roth in Big Island mayoral race

Kimo Alameda leads incumbent Mitch Roth in the race for Hawaii Island mayor, the state’s three incumbent members of Congress up for reelection hold decisive advantages in their races, and Republicans are poised to pick up a seat in the state Legislature in the initial general election returns released just before 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Alameda, a psychologist, had 35,577 votes against 30,717 for Roth in the early returns.

Alameda was considered an underdog in the race early on but has been buoyed by key endorsements by the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the United Public Workers.

5. Honolulu Civil Beat: OHA election results: Incumbents returning to office

Voters are favoring incumbents in this year’s race for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees.

At-Large Trustee Kelii Akina had a commanding lead over former trustee Lei Ahu Isa. Early returns show Akina had 38% compared to Ahu Isa’s 24.3%.

Trustee Luana Alapa had a smaller lead over Kunani Nihipali in the race for the Molokai-Lanai trustee seat. Alapa had 32.5% to Nihipali’s 21.9%.

And on Kauai, Trustee Dan Ahuna led Laura Lindsey 30% to 23.7%.

One new trustee, Kai Kahele, won the Big Island seat outright in the primary election. He will replace outgoing Trustee Mililani Trask.

Although most of the nine-member board of trustees represent geographic areas, they run statewide. It means name recognition has become crucial in these matchups as the OHA races do not often attract big-dollar donors like those who fund statewide campaigns for governor.

This often gives incumbents an advantage.

Your Notes for Tomorrow

Thursday, Nov. 7

• Federal Open Market Committee decision on interest rates
• Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
• 20th annual New York Comedy Festival, featuring over 200 comedians performing in over 100 shows at venues 
• Field of Remembrance opens at Westminster Abbey ahead of Remembrance Sunday
• New PlayStation 5 Pro console launches